Any that regular follow the FPS scene on Twitch should be familiar with Michael Grzesiek. Better known as shroud, Grzesiek made a name for himself as a Counter-Strike pro before switching over to streaming full time and showing off his insane FPS skill in a number of franchises.
But while shroud is willing to dabble in almost any FPS, there is one series that he seems to avoid: Destiny. When asked why he hasn’t played Destiny 2 considering the new Shadowkeep expansion just launched, shroud explained what games like Destiny do that he dislikes.
In a short clip, shroud explains that games like Destiny 2 typically involve a very rote formula of performing a simple task and then standing and shooting at a target. Destiny isn’t the only game that seemingly offers this type of gameplay but it’s the example shroud chose based on the question from his stream chat.
While there is certainly plenty of nuance to Destiny’s gameplay, in a reductive sense shroud is not wrong. Much of Destiny involves performing a task and then shooting at a target for a sustained amount of time. Yes, there are unique mechanics in the raid and different objectives players must complete, but many of the big boss encounters eventually end up with a situation where the team is standing together and firing at a weak point.
Where shroud might find this boring, though, plenty of Destiny 2 fans find it part of the process and as close to an MMO as the franchise can get. Raids in Destiny are very challenging and require more than just basic gun skill, with a fair share of puzzle solving and even some light platforming thrown in.
It seems more likely that shroud’s disinterest stems from the fact that games like Destiny don’t put a high priority on gun skill. A player like shroud can’t show off their ability to hit precise targets within a few seconds when a boss is standing still and waiting to take damage.
Truth be told, he seems to prefer human targets, which is why games like PUBG and Apex Legends are part of his regular rotation. Of course, The Crucible offers something closer to what shroud is looking for, but it also has elements that diminish gun skill like super abilities. It’s clearly not the game for him and that’s okay.